JV needs to grow up a little bit

I like JV. I think he's got some skills. I don't know if he's the future of the franchise, but I think he's going to be a great centre in this league for a long time. But there are two things he does, multiple times every game, that drive me nuts, and really shows his age. On the offensive end, when there's a no-call, he waits a few seconds before running back to play defence. He throws his arms in the air. In the Atlanta game I've already seen it happen twice where it lead to his man getting a basket at the other end, and it's still the first half. It's been happening all season and I have no idea why the coaching staff hasn't corrected it. Jonas has no problem sprinting like a horse after sending an outlet pass. He can run fast.

The other thing that makes him seem kind of childish is that he never, ever accepts a foul being called on him. Obviously there are going to be questionable calls. But every time, JV goes for the Oscar: "who, me!?" or he does his patented wrist-drop dismissal gesture that's already garnered him a tech or two. The kid needs to learn to focus on the game no matter what is going on with the refs, and not expect to get bailed out with a whistle when he misses a rebound battle.

I like JV. I think he's got some skills. I don't know if he's the future of the franchise, but I think he's going to be a great centre in this league for a long time. But there are two things he does, multiple times every game, that drive me nuts, and really shows his age. On the offensive end, when there's a no-call, he waits a few seconds before running back to play defence. He throws his arms in the air. In the Atlanta game I've already seen it happen twice where it lead to his man getting a basket at the other end, and it's still the first half. It's been happening all season and I have no idea why the coaching staff hasn't corrected it. Jonas has no problem sprinting like a horse after sending an outlet pass. He can run fast.

The other thing that makes him seem kind of childish is that he never, ever accepts a foul being called on him. Obviously there are going to be questionable calls. But every time, JV goes for the Oscar: "who, me!?" or he does his patented wrist-drop dismissal gesture that's already garnered him a tech or two. The kid needs to learn to focus on the game no matter what is going on with the refs, and not expect to get bailed out with a whistle when he misses a rebound battle.

totally agree on both points... but to me this only scratches the surface of what bothers me about him... in a nutshell blanket statement: he does not learn from the same mistakes time and time again... continues to make the same simple mistakes every single game.. things that are easily corrected with focus... but like everyone says I guess.. he's young.

The other thing that makes him seem kind of childish is that he never, ever accepts a foul being called on him. Obviously there are going to be questionable calls. But every time, JV goes for the Oscar: "who, me!?" or he does his patented wrist-drop dismissal gesture that's already garnered him a tech or two. The kid needs to learn to focus on the game no matter what is going on with the refs, and not expect to get bailed out with a whistle when he misses a rebound battle.

I'd like to see the list players that don't do this. The NBA game is such that basically every call is argued a little bit; it's a psychological battle with the refs. Work him over for long enough, he might actually believe you. I don't think it's fair to criticism JV for doing something that nearly every player in the league does.

Bigs take the longest to develop their game, but it doesn't just happen naturally.
It takes effort, hard work and determination.
Jonas was showing that early after the trade, but i do feel like his mental game has regressed.

He's barely a starter yet, he has to realize that.

EDIT: That came off a little harsher than I intended. I don't think he's blowing it, but I'd love to see him keep focusing on the little things.

I feel like whenever he gets the ball in the post there is no way he is passing it back out and teams are starting to double him and he isn't making those hook. I realize this may be because he wants to take all the shots he can due to not getting many early on in the season. But I think its clear now that the Raptors will pass to him when he's in a good position.

Jonas is going to be fine. Aside from understandable need to develop his skills, and continue to learn about, and adapt to the level of opponents in the NBA, he's struggling with both physical, leading to mental fatigue of an 82 game schedule right now. Remember how much better he was in the 2nd half last year? He didn't have to deal with that schedule last year, as he was out for 5 weeks, 20 games, smack in the middle of the season. He'll get used to the grind that is the NBA as he matures, but I sure hope he gets plenty of rest during this break.

I'd like to see the list players that don't do this. The NBA game is such that basically every call is argued a little bit; it's a psychological battle with the refs. Work him over for long enough, he might actually believe you. I don't think it's fair to criticism JV for doing something that nearly every player in the league does.

I know he's not the only one in the league who complains about calls. Give me a break. But the three gentlemen in the photos are not career complainers. Veterans like the ones depicted know that they should pick their battles. Kyle Lowry loves talking to the refs, and will always speak his mind. But that's not what JV does. JV acts like he just got rejected at the high school dance when a foul is called on him, sulks his way to the side of the key, or the bench, muttering. I realize he might not have the real-time language skills yet to plead an articulate case to the refs, but do not confuse pouting with working the referees, because the pouting he does is never going to make the next call go his way.

I'd like to see the list players that don't do this. The NBA game is such that basically every call is argued a little bit; it's a psychological battle with the refs. Work him over for long enough, he might actually believe you. I don't think it's fair to criticism JV for doing something that nearly every player in the league does.

I know he's not the only one in the league who complains about calls. Give me a break. But the three gentlemen in the photos are not career complainers. Veterans like the ones depicted know that they should pick their battles. Kyle Lowry loves talking to the refs, and will always speak his mind. But that's not what JV does. JV acts like he just got rejected at the high school dance when a foul is called on him, sulks his way to the side of the key, or the bench, muttering. I realize he might not have the real-time language skills yet to plead an articulate case to the refs, but do not confuse pouting with working the referees, because the pouting he does is never going to make the next call go his way.

I don't like the sulking either. I do like his energy. If he could just hit a few mid range jumpers his confidence could soar.

I know he's not the only one in the league who complains about calls. Give me a break. But the three gentlemen in the photos are not career complainers. Veterans like the ones depicted know that they should pick their battles. Kyle Lowry loves talking to the refs, and will always speak his mind. But that's not what JV does. JV acts like he just got rejected at the high school dance when a foul is called on him, sulks his way to the side of the key, or the bench, muttering. I realize he might not have the real-time language skills yet to plead an articulate case to the refs, but do not confuse pouting with working the referees, because the pouting he does is never going to make the next call go his way.

Seriously? They may not pout, but they are career complainers. Hell, TD gives that wide eyed innocent look to the refs after virtually every foul call of his entire career. In his mind, according to those looks, he has never committed a foul.

I know he's not the only one in the league who complains about calls. Give me a break. But the three gentlemen in the photos are not career complainers. Veterans like the ones depicted know that they should pick their battles. Kyle Lowry loves talking to the refs, and will always speak his mind. But that's not what JV does. JV acts like he just got rejected at the high school dance when a foul is called on him, sulks his way to the side of the key, or the bench, muttering. I realize he might not have the real-time language skills yet to plead an articulate case to the refs, but do not confuse pouting with working the referees, because the pouting he does is never going to make the next call go his way.

bahahahahaha....not career complainers? What, you think LeBron waited until he was MVP or a Champion before he started that?

I feel like whenever he gets the ball in the post there is no way he is passing it back out and teams are starting to double him and he isn't making those hook. I realize this may be because he wants to take all the shots he can due to not getting many early on in the season. But I think its clear now that the Raptors will pass to him when he's in a good position.

Not really. They still frequently look him off a lot even when he's wide open at the rim. He's the player who has somehow benefitted the least from the Gay trade from a FGA perspective, having only gone up by 0.3 attempts (I checked this about a month ago, and at that point he was the only regular whose attempts had gone down, so now he's had an uptick in the last month).

Not excusing his not passing....but the team does not always pass to him when he's in good position. For instance I was at the NOP game, and there were easily 4-5 times he was open (either on the roll or because the Pelicans D was scrambling) right at the basket with nobody within 6-7 feet of him. The team has to find a way to get him the ball in a couple of those situations, because they are such easy points, and will help get him into a rhythm.

*They've probably done a better job getting him the ball in the post...but he needs more touches in other situations, especially ones like I mention above, where he's just wide open because of missed rotations and the team can't find a way to get a pass in.